Method for the conversion of xanthophylls in plant material

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to the in sito process for converting non-free form xanthophylls to free xanthophylls in the biological material of the plant. The method, more particularly, relates to a method that would liberate xanthophylls by transesterification of acyl-xanthophylls in plant materials.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the in situ process for converting non-free form xanthophylls to free xanthophylls in the biological material of the plant. The method, more particularly, relates to a method that would liberate xanthophylls by transesterification of acyl-xanthophylls in plant materials.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Carotenoids, are a group of red and yellow pigments contained in plants and fruits. Carotenoids include carotenes and hydroxylated carotenoids designated xanthophylls. Xanthophylls include lutein, zeaxanthin, capsorubin, capsanthin, astaxanthin, and canthaxanthin.

The animal feed industry, the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry have all indicated a strong interest in xanthophylls. The poultry industry receives a benefit in adding the xanthophylls to enhance the yolk color of eggs, the pharmaceutical companies have found that xanthophylls are useful in certain tumor treatments and as an antioxidant, the food industry has found that consumers are looking for naturally occurring food colorants. Annatto, saffron and paprika are a few natural carotenoids that have traditionally been used for food coloring. The dramatic red and yellow coloration and the xanthophylls' natural occurrence in edible plants such as green vegetables and fruit, broccoli, green beans, peas, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, spinach, kiwi and honeydew, have led to many uses, including a pigmentation additive for animal feeds. In certain vegetables, the xanthophylls are in the free non-esterified form. However, the large quantities of chlorophylls in green vegetables makes concentration or extraction of the xanthophylls difficult. A number of xanthophylls are also present in yellow-colored fruits and vegetables, such as mangoes, peaches, prunes, acorn squash and oranges. These contain fewer chlorophylls, but often the xanthophylls exist in the esterified form with fatty acids such as myristic, lauric, and palmitic acids. Thus to be metabolized in a feed additive the xanthophylls' ester must undergo conversion to the free xanthophylls which is then metabolizable by the organism.

Although these various plant materials contain xanthophylls, the desired xanthophylls will drive the selection of the material used. For example, it is well known to use the petals of the marigold flower, Tagetes erecta, for the extraction of the lutein xanthophylls. Marigolds are readily cultivated and have been used as a pigment source for poultry. Lutein occurs in the marigold flower, diacylated with palmitic and myristic acids in long fatty acid esters, typically as diesters in the chromoplastids.

The animal feed industry has taken two different approaches to providing xanthophylls in animal feeds, particularly lutein to poultry feeds. The industry had used the dried marigold meal as a feed additive, thus providing the lutein in the less useable acylated form. This form of the xanthophylls requires more consumption of the marigold meal to get the pigment desired. Alternatively, the industry has used a number of processes, starting with the extraction of the xanthophylls from the plant material and the formation of oleoresins. The industry then goes further and processes the oleoresins to convert the xanthophylls from the acylated form to the free form by a number of different processes, including transesterification for some oleoresin processing of paprika, though for lutein the process is primarily by saponification. The converted oleoresin requires less consumption by the animal to get the desired xanthophylls. However, formation of oleoresins and the processing thereof by saponification is both time-consuming and adds labor costs to the feed product.

Saponification is the conversion of the fatty acid into a soap by treating it with an alkali. The saponification number is the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to saponify one gram of the ester. After saponification, the industry has often used solvents to crystallize the lutein from the oleoresin. This has made the xanthophylls more purified and available to the organism consuming the lutein, but it has added time and labor to the process of supplying the xanthophylls to the feed mixture.

Some of the following patents indicate the processes for recovering various compounds such as xanthophylls from oleoresins. U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,286 describes a process for recovering xanthophylls from corn gluten. The patent has the steps of adding ethanol as an extraction step, filtering, stripping to form the crude xanthophyll and then using ethanol, using KOH as the sponification step, washing and filtering, then purifying to the refined xanthophylls.

Three Japanese references also show the use of similar oleoresin extractions. No. 82,133,160 Japan 1982 shows a red pepper pigment production using a red pepper oleoresin, in either water or alcohol-mixtures, treated with KOH, NaOH, CaCO₃, and then treated with acids such as Hcl, H₂ SO₄, H₃ PO₄, HOAc, lactic and citrus acids. The pigment solutions are removed with organic solvents such as MeOH, EtOH, PrOH and acetone.

Patent No. 82,180,663 (1982), shows paprika food coloring agents that are extracted as an oleoresin. The oleoresin is heated with basic alkali metal compounds such as KOH, NaOH, K₂ Co₃, Na₂ Co₃, or sodium alcoholate, and mixed with one or more hydroxides, carbonates or alkali earth metals, such as Ca(OH)₂. The precipitates are extracted with organic solvents and yield an odorless oleoresin pigment. Patent No. 83,173,164 shows paprika pigments can be prepared by treating paprika oleoresin with alkali at temperatures below 50° C. in the presence of halogen ions, sulfates, bicarbonate, carbonate, phosphate, and aliphatic carboxy ions, then treated with an organic solvent, and finally extracted with acetone.

The U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,714 describes a method of producing substantially pure lutein. In this patent, the starting material was marigold petals. The process of saponification of the petals is briefly described in column 5, example 1. The flower petals were tested for herbicides and pesticides and then the xanthophyll-containing material was subjected to saponification with aqueous potassium hydroxide. This was accomplished by continuous mixing under heat (65-70 degrees C.) of food grade potassium hydroxide 45%. This accomplished the conversion of 98% of lutein into a form which was free of fatty acids and presence in a yellow oil. This material could then be used as a feed or food additive.

The present invention provides a method of in situ conversion of the xanthophylls into the free form by liberation of the xanthophylls by transesterification; thus avoiding the need for the formation of the oleoresin. This oleoresin conversion requires an organic solvent extraction of the plant material; hexane is often used. The present invention provides in situ free form xanthophylls by transesterification of in situ material, thus eliminating the need for an oleoresin or saponification of the material. The present invention allows the marigold meal to be subjected to transesterification and then used, without the extraction of the xanthophylls from the meal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is evident that there is a need to convert acylated xanthophylls in plant material to the free form.

The objective of this invention is to fulfill that need.

Another object of my invention is to provide a marigold meal that has a high lutein free content.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a marigold meal as a feed additive that in fact provides additionally pigment to eggs, when compared to the same marigold meal as a feed additive that has not undergone the treatment of the present invention.

Another additional objective of my invention is to provide plant material which contains a substantially greater percentage of the free form of xanthophylls than contained in the original plant material prior to liberation.

Broadly, then, the present invention includes an improved plant material made from a natural plant material containing at least some non-free-form xanthophylls, comprising plant materials contained in situ, less of the non-free form xanthophylls, and more of the free-form xanthophylls, wherein the free form of xanthophylls in situ in the improved plant material has increased beyond the amount in the natural plant material.

The invention can have a number of different plant materials, including flowers and the petals of flowers. A flower of particular usefulness is Tagetes erecta. This type of flower is useful if the desired xanthophylls are lutein. The bulk of the xanthophylls in marigolds exist in nature in the form of non-free-form xanthophylls, as fatty acid esters. The present invention is adapted to convert the non-free xanthophylls into their free form. When the marigold flowers are employed this conversion by transesterification produces a nonacylated lutein. The present invention can improve plant material, so that it contains at least 5% more free-form xanthophylls than does the natural plant material in situ.

Another embodiment of the present invention is an improved animal feed composition comprising: vitamin and minerals, along with a source of carbohydrates selected from the group consisting of soybean, peanuts, corn, alfalfa, wheat, and barley, and improved plant material containing, in situ more free-form xanthophylls than the natural in situ amount of xanthophylls in the plant material from which the improved plant material was formed, wherein the xanthophylls are more bioavailable to an animal fed the animal feed.

This feed can contain improved plant material in the form of flowers. If the desired xanthophyll is lutein, then said flowers are marigolds. If the desired xanthophyll is capsanthin, then paprika can be used.

This animal feed is designed for the nutritional requirements of poultry, wherein the xanthophyll acts as a pigmenter for the animal products such as eggs and meat.

The present invention is believed to be particularly useful for chickens. Certain xanthophylls could also be useful in swine feed to color the meat or other animal byproducts.

A feed for poultry is preferably characterized by having the animal feed evidencing the bioavailability of the free form xanthophylls by having increased pigmentation from the consumption of said free form xanthophylls, especially when the fed xanthophylls are lutein.

The present invention does not only encompass a product, but also, the method of forming the free-form xanthophylls. Thus, broadly, the present invention covers a method of improved plant material made from a natural plant material containing at least some non-free-form xanthophylls, comprising the steps of treating said natural plant material in situ with a solvent; adding a base capable of transesterification of non-free-form xanthophylls to the free form xanthophylls; neutralizing the reaction, forming the improved plant material having more free form xanthophylls than the natural plant material. The method can also include the step of drying the improved plant materials to remove any solvent.

The method of the present invention includes using plant material such as flowers. If the desired product is lutein then flowers such as Tagetes erecta can be used.

The method uses a solvent in the reaction. The solvent can be, broadly, an alcohol and, more preferred, an alkanol or alkenol. If an alcohol is used, the alcohol preferably has one to four carbons.

The alcohol is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, butanol and the like. The method of the present invention uses a base. The base can be selected from the group consisting of, potassium hydroxide, potassium sorbate, NaOMe, animal liver lipase, yeast lipase, NaOEt, KOMe, KOEt, Na₂ CO₃, K₂ CO₃ and the like.

The method also includes the step of stopping the reaction by neutralizing the reaction with a Lewis acid. The preferred Lewis acid is phosphoric acid. However, the Lewis acid can be selected from the group consisting of HCL, NH₄ CL, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, ALCL₃ and the like.

The method does not require an extractor, such as petroleum ether, hexane, or a number of other known extractors to remove the xanthophyll from the plant material.

The method can have plant material such as flowers, roots, or fruit, but preferably without chlorophyll in the product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the chromatogram of marigold meal.

FIG. 2 shows the chromatogram of paprika.

FIG. 3 shows the chromatogram of conversion to free form of capsanthin from treated paprika.

FIG. 4 shows the chromatogram of conversion to free form of lutein from treated marigold meal.

FIG. 5 shows the Roche fan scale over days for the egg yolk color of the present invention at two mg/Kg levels and of the commercial product.

FIG. 6 shows the mg/Kg of xanthophylls in the egg yolks over days of the three treatments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the in situ process for converting nonfree form xanthophylls to free xanthophylls in the biological material of the plant. The method, more particularly, relates to a method that would liberate xanthophylls by transesterification of acyl-xanthophylls in plant materials, and result in improved plant material having more free form xanthophyll than the original plant material from which it was made.

Thus, the present invention provide a method of liberating xanthophylls in situ in plant, vegetable, or fruit material. A xanthophyll in the free form, such as lutein, zeaxanthin or capsanthin, is formed from the xanthophyll diester in the plant material. The plant material should have relatively concentrated amounts of the desired xanthophyll in the non-free form, which is usually, and preferably, the form of a fatty acid ester. Marigolds are an excellent source of lutein in the form of diesters presently known in nature, the wolfberry fruit (Lycium barbarum), is an excellent source of zeaxanthin diesters, and the pepper plant (Capsicum annum), has capsanthin in the form of diesters. Other plants, fruits and vegetables having high concentrations of desired xanthophylls can also be utilized.

The term non-free-form xanthophyll refers to a xanthophyll that is in a form that can be transesterified to the free form of the xanthophyll.

The term free form xanthophyll--refers to a xanthophyll which is not an in an esterified form.

The term bioavailability--refers to the extent to which the xanthophyll is available to the body of the organism consuming it.

The term base--refers potassium hydroxide, potassium sorbate, NaOMe, animal liver lipase, NaOEt, KOMe, KOEt, Na₂ CO₃, K₂ CO₃ and such other non-nucleophilic and non-strong kinetically deprotonating material which does not cause deprotonation in the alpha-position of the carbonyls or highly conjugated double bond systems; for example, LDA or BuLi would be excluded from the definition of base, because these chemicals cause deprotonation in the alpha-position of the carbonyls and highly conjugated double bond systems.

The term ratio of base to Plant Material (meal) by weight--refers to the amount of base used in the reaction compared to the weight of the plant material. This amount is determined by the pH of the reaction and the desired reaction times. The preferred pH is between 11-14; lower pH can be used, but increases the reaction time.

The term solvent refers to a chemical in which the transesterification of the xanthophyll can be carried out; the chemical preferably has a hydroxyl group. The solvent is preferably an alcohol with 1-4 carbons. More preferably, is selected to have a boiling point that allows the reaction temperature of the transesterification to be kept at 75-85 degrees C., such as MeOH.

Plant material refers to plants containing xanthophylls in the non-free form of the xanthophyll.

The contemplated plant source contain xanthophylls in the esterified form as a mono- or di-C₁₂ -C₁₈ long chain fatty acid such as lauric, myristic, oleic, linolenic and palmitic acids. Marigolds are an excellent source of lutein in the form of diesters presently known in nature, the wolfberry fruit (Lycium barbarum) is an excellent source of zeaxanthin diesters; and the pepper plant (Capsicum annum) has capsanthin in the form of diesters. Other plants, fruits, and vegetables having high concentrations of desired xanthophylls can also be utilized. The use of flowers and roots and fruits often avoid the difficulty of separation of the free form of the xanthophylls from the other pigments such as chlorophyll if the xanthophyll is to be extracted.

It is well known in the art to extract carotenoids from plants. It is equally well know in the art that marigold meal and certain other plant materials can be fed to animals as a feed additive to cause pigmentation of the animal products such as eggs or meat. Marigold meal has be supplied to pigment chicken eggs for a long period of time. Lutein has been extracted from marigold for its pigmentation properties. The prior art has taught and suggested that there are two ways to supply lutein. One is as the naturally occurring plant material with the lutein in the non-free form; alternatively the lutein can be extracted by forming an oleoresin, and saponifying the oleoresin and supplying the saponified material having the free form of the xanthophyll. The present invention provides a new and better alternative to these a method of supplying in situ an increased amount of free-formed xanthophylls in situ in the plant material without having to form the oleoresin.

The prior art teaches that organic extractors have been used to extract carotenoids from plant material and forming the oleoresins with hexane, acetone, petroleum ether, methanol, ethyl acetate, diethyl either, heptanes, chloroform, and tetrahydrofuran. These extractors result in what is called an oleoresin, which contains diesters. The prior art then teaches the use of a saponification reaction that cleaves the fatty acids from the xanthophyll diesters. There are a number of known methods for the saponification. These produce free-form xanthophylls along with soaps of the fatty acids. The soaps are made with alkali solutions, such as potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide, in an aqueous solution. Even though similar chemicals may be used in the saponification process, clearly the present invention does not require the organic extraction step, nor the saponification step, to provide an improved plant material.

The liberation of xanthophylls in situ in plant material is proceeds by the following chemical equation: ##STR1##

Clearly, the diacyl-xanthophylls are converted by transesterification into free xanthophylls in situ (in the crude plant material). This process avoids the cost, processes, and potentially hazardous chemicals associated with the production of an oleoresin. Additionally, the plant material, can act as the carrier material further increasing the efficiency of the process.

Thus, the steps of the present method includes placing the plant material containing the nonfree form of xanthophylls in the solvent and base. Ratio of Base to Plant Material (Meal) by Weight is the amount of base used in the reaction compared to the weight of the plant material. This amount is determined by the pH of the reaction and the desired reaction times. The preferred pH is between 11-14; lower pH increases the reaction time.

For approximately every 32 grams of xanthophyll activity in the raw plant material, approximately 770 g of base such as KOH was placed in 11 liters of the solvent. The solution containing the plant material was kept at a pH of approximately 13; between 11-14 were acceptable levels, with 13 being the preferred level. The reacting solution was stirred until complete conversion was observed. The run time was approximately 10 hours at 69° C., and was monitored by HPLC.

The reaction solution was neutralized with phosphoric acid having a pH of 7. Any number of neutralizing acids and agents could be employed, where phosphoric acid is preferred. The solvent, preferably an alcohol and more preferably MeOH, was removed with 16 hours of distillation at 69° C. The temperature of distillation can be higher or lower, as long as it is above the boiling point of MeOH and the distillation is done in a commercially reasonable time.

To the plant residue material other carriers can be added, such as almond shell meal, silicates, and the like. The residue is dried after the distillation of the solvent, either at room temperature at one ATM or by vacuum-drying in an oven at a temperature <50° C. The method of drying is a question of drying time and is not critical. The plant residue material which now has in situ free-form xanthophylls therein is mixed, and a fine powder with a xanthophyll activity of 10-14 g/kg is achieved. The final product is preferably stored at room temperature under nitrogen.

The following bases can also be used in the present invention. Their selection can be based on the economics of the process, the speed of the process and the acceptability trace amounts of the components. The present invention, a plant material having free form xanthophylls, can be marigold meal that has been converted. The converted marigold meal was fed to poultry along with a control (the same marigold meal from the same batch of plant materials) to the same type and age of egg-laying hens and the data indicates that there was increased use of the xanthophylls in the converted meal. In other words, there was more pigmentation of the yolks of the egg when the same amount of converted plant material was consumed, compared to the non-converted plant material. Thus, the process is providing the xanthophylls in a more bioavailable form to the animal consuming the product. Generally, this test was run with marigold meal that was processed by the steps as listed below to provide in situ free-form xanthophylls.

EXPERIMENT 1 LIBERATION OF LUTEIN BY MEANS OF TRANSESTERIFICATION

Step 1 Marigold meal (2 kg with a total xanthophyll activity of 16 g/kg) in MeOH/KOH (11 L/770 g; pH=13) was stirred until complete conversion was observed (appr. 10 hours) at 69° C. The reaction turnover was monitored by HPLC. See FIG. 1 and FIG. 3.

Step 2 The reaction mixture was neutralized with phosphoric acid (pH=7) and MeOH was removed by distillation at 69° C. (distillation time=appr. 16 hours).

Step 3 The residue was then dried in a well-ventilated room at room temperature and at 1 ATM or by means of vacuum drying in an oven (temperature<50° C.).

Step 4 After mixing and blending, a fine powder was obtained with a total xanthophyll activity of 10 to 14 g/kg (depending on the duration of the reaction and drying process). The final product is stored at room temperature under nitrogen.

The process described above can use a number of differing base that include, but are not limited to, potassium hydroxide, potassium sorbate, NaOMe, animal liver lipase, NaOEt, KOMe, KOEt, Na₂ CO₃, K₂ CO₃ and such other non-nucleophilic and non-strong kinetically deprotonating materials which do not cause deprotonation in the alpha-position of the carbonyls and highly conjugated double bond systems. The preferred base is KOH, due to its availability at an inexpensive price and it effectiveness in avoiding the issues of deprotonation. The amounts to use of another bases is readily determined.

As will be noted, the process described in the following experiments does not involve the use of an aqueous solution. Instead, the solvent is an alcohol solvent that, further along in the process, is removable by distillation. MeOH is preferred as a solvent, but other types of alcohol, such as isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, butanol and the like can be employed without undue experimentation by the ordinarily skilled person in the art. The solvent, clearly, is a chemical in which the transesterification of the xanthophyll can be carried out without interfering with the chemical process of transesterification, the solvent, preferably, has a hydroxyl group and is not an aqueous solution.

The neutralizing agent is preferably phosphoric acid. But as a neutralizing acid, other Lewis acids, such as HCL, sulfuric acid, A1Cl₃, NH₄ CL, acetic acid and the like can be used.

Plant material refers to plants containing xanthophylls in the non-free form.

The contemplated plant source contain xanthophylls in the esterified form as a mono- or di-C₁₂ -C₁₈ long chain fatty acid such as lauric, myristic, oleic, linolenic and palmitic acids. Xanthophylls are found in a number of differing plant materials. Marigold have lutein, and paprika has capsanthin. This process works to liberate a number of non-free-form xanthophylls in plant materials.

The experiment below is the reaction procedure for the liberation of capsanthin in paprika meal.

EXPERIMENT 2 LIBERATION OF BY MEANS OF TRANSESTERIFICATION OF PAPRIKA TO FORM FREE CAPSANTHIN

Paprika plant material having a determined total xanthophyll activity per kg is placed in MeOH (11 L, without ethoxyquin) and is stirred for 8 hours at 69° C. and for 12 hours at rt. with KOH (770 g, pH=13). The reaction turnover is monitored by HPLC. The reaction mixture is neutralized with phosphoric acid (pH=7). MeOH (6 L) is removed by distillation at 69° C. (distillation time=16 hours at 69° C. with a pause of 48 hours at rt.). The residue is then dried on standing at rt. at 1 atm, and is followed by vacuum drying in an oven (50° C., 100 Torr) for 2 hours. After mixing a fine powder is obtained with a total xanthophyll activity to be determined per kg (depending on the duration of the drying process and efficacy of the mixing).

ANALYSIS:

Can be performed with the following parameters:

Monitoring the transesterification:

    ______________________________________     Chrompack chromsep 100 * 46 mm (L * ID)     15018 microspher C18 cat. no. 28076     flow 1 ml/min               eluent: CH.sub.2 Cl.sub.2 /CH.sub.3 CN 30/70                                scanning at 450 nm     ______________________________________

Measuring the total xanthophyll activity was performed by means of a spectrophotometer.

EXPERIMENT 3 CHROMATOGRAPHY COMPARISON OF MARIGOLD MEAL WITH TRANSESTERIFIED MARIGOLD MEAL TO EVALUATE THE FREE LUTEIN

The transesterification process described above in experiment one was employed on one of the marigold meal samples; the other sample was not treated by the transesterification process. The two materials (the plant material that had been treated and the untreated material) was analyzed, and the results are shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. FIG. 1 shows the untreated marigold meal, and FIG. 3 shows the treated marigold meal. FIG. 3 as subjected to the following conditions:

    ______________________________________     Column Pressure               1866      Column Temperature (C.):                                         N/A     (PSI):     Noise (microAU):               3e + 001  Drift (microAU/min):                                         3e + 001.     ______________________________________

The untreated marigold meal had the following parameters and conditions:

    ______________________________________     Column Pressure               2391      Column Temperature (C.):                                           N/A     (PSI):     Noise (microAU):               4e + 001  Drift (microAU/min): 1e + 001                                           --     ______________________________________

The graph in FIG. 1 shows that the lutein of the marigold meals has a lot of ester activity in the 28-33 range, and a lutein level in the 7-8 range. The transesterified marigold meal shows that the lutein peak is still high, and the esters in the 31-33 area no longer exist.

The following data was gathered from the marigold meal and FIG. 1.

    ______________________________________              RT     Component              (min)    Area     Height Area %                                             Peak Type     ______________________________________     Unident0001              2.513    1110     194    0.05  Resolved     Unident0002              4.220    4408     1331   0.19  Fused     Unident0003              4.365    2763     670    0.12  Fused     Unident0004              4.484    17210    2068   0.76  Fused     CAPSANTHIN              6.602    8032     758    0.35  Fused     Unident0007              6.805    6003     891    0.26  Fused     Unident0008              7.054    794979   90124  34.96 Fused     LUTEIN K1              7.862    85277    3973   3.75  Fused     ZEAX-    8.110    123244   7773   5.42  Fused     ANTHIN     RUBIX-   8.797    15407    1288   0.68  Fused     ANTHIN     CANTHAX- 9.900    0        0      0     NF     ANTHIN     CITRAX-  11.470   3141     223    0.14  Resolved     ANTHIN     B CRYPTOX-              12.626   8967     478    0.39  Resolved     ANTHIN     LYCOPEEN 17.959   27086    689    1.19  Fused     B CAROTENE              19.839   41511    2125   1.83  Fused     Unident0017              20.163   17368    1290   0.76  Fused     Unident0018              21.777   12620    719    0.55  Fused     Unident0019              22.138   6278     502    0.28  Fused     Unident0020              28.596   16349    1191   0.72  Resolved     Unident0021              30.268   92474    6473   4.07  Fused     Unident0022              31.082   9061     802    0.40  Fused     Unident0023              31.445   2991     321    0.13  Fused     Unident0024              31.816   228688   16904  10.06 Fused     Unident0025              32.225   13487    1254   0.59  Fused     Unident0026              32.604   45440    2610   2.00  Fused     Unident0027              32.847   10055    1418   0.44  Fused     Unident0028              33.184   408509   31639  17.96 Fused     Unident0029              33.564   31417    2652   1.38  Fused     Unident0030              33.940   79024    4915   3.48  Fused     Unident0031              34.533   161146   8099   7.09  Fused     Totals            2274045  193374 100.00     Unident0002              4.328    57885    4754   0.54  Resolved     CAPSANTHIN              6.454    17237    901    0.16  Fused     Unident0004              7.130    94538    8757   0.88  Fused     LUTEIN K1              7.459    7571877  942410 70.17 Fused     ZEAX-    7.959    1247667  54701  11.56 Fused     ANTHIN     RUBIX-   8.634    1533918  92877  14.21 Fused     ANTHIN     CANTHAX- 9.311    72773    5608   0.67  Fused     ANTHIN     CITRAX-  11.976   51048    1889   0.47  Fused     ANTHIN     B CRYPTOX-              12.475   9046     880    0.08  Fused     ANTHIN     Unident0011              13.231   87645    3194   0.81  Fused     LYCOPEEN 16.350   0        0      0     NF     B CAROTEEN              19.830   28395    1187   0.26  Resolved     Unident0014              20.776   5077     454    0.05  Resolved     Unident0015              31.145   2061     238    0.02  Resolved     Unident0016              32.573   3773     477    0.03  Resolved     Unident0017              33.801   8411     754    0.08  Resolved     Totals            10791351 1119081                                       100.00     ______________________________________

EXPERIMENT 4 CHROMATOGRAPHY COMPARISON OF PAPRIKA WITH TRANSESTERIFIED PAPRIKA TO EVALUATE THE FREE CAPSANTHIN

The transesterification process described above in experiment 3 was employed on one of the paprika samples; the other sample was not treated by the transesterification process. The two plant materials, the treated and untreated material, was analyzed, and the results are shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. FIG. 2 shows the untreated paprika, and FIG. 4 shows the treated paprika. Treated Paprika in FIG. 4 was subjected to the following conditions and gave the following data.

    ______________________________________     Transesterified paprika     Acquisition Log     ______________________________________     Column Pressure               1799      Column Temperature (C.):                                           N/A     (PSI):     Noise (microAU):               5e + 001  Drift (microAU/min): 1e + 002                                           --     ______________________________________                RT     Component  (min)   Area     Height                                       Area %                                             Peak Type     ______________________________________     Unident0002                3.350   5402     305   0.46  Fused     Unident0003                4.212   75241    6091  6.47  Fused     Unident0004                5.939   167992   10409 14.44 Fused     Unident0005                6.189   293468   17946 25.22 Fused     CAPSANTHIN 6.455   89525    8942  7.69  Fused     Unident0007                6.640   93922    9488  8.07  Fused     Unident0008                7.028   163104   13380 14.02 Fused     LUTEIN K1  7.936   4794     380   0.41  Fused     ZEAXANTHIN 8.088   17197    921   1.48  Fused     RUBIXANTHIN                8.550   0        0     0     NF     CANTHAX-   9.900   0        0     0     NF     ANTHIN     CITRAXANTHIN                11.143  7630     481   0.66  Resolved     B CRYPTOX- 12.759  100344   5656  8.62  Resolved     ANTHIN     LYCOPEEN   16.350  0        0     0     NF     Unident0016                18.783  129299   6123  11.11 Fused     B CAROTENE 19.418  15731    1033  1.35  Fused     Totals             1163652  81155 100.00     ______________________________________

FIG. 2 was subjected to the following conditions and gave the following data.

    ______________________________________     Non-transesterified paprika     Acquisition Log     ______________________________________     Column Pressure               1810      Column Temperature (C.):                                           N/A     (PSI):     Noise (microAU):               3e + 001  Drift (microAU/min): 3e + 001                                           --     ______________________________________                RT     Component  (min)   Area     Height                                       Area %                                             Peak Type     ______________________________________     Unident0001                4.198   12917    1238  0.88  Fused     Unident0002                4.466   31213    2498  2.12  Fused     Unident0003                6.086   36925    2042  2.51  Fused     Unident0004                6.192   43531    3157  2.96  Fused     CAPSANTHIN 6.640   26476    1523  1.73  Fused     Unident0006                6.919   13869    2208  0.94  Fused     Unident0007                7.025   47360    4396  3.22  Fused     LUTEIN K1  7.900   0        0     0     NF     ZEAXANTHIN 8.000   0        0     0     NF     RUBIXANTHIN                8.550   0        0     0     NF     CANTHAX-   9.900   0        0     0     NF     ANTHIN     CITRAXANTHIN                11.000  0        0     0     NF     B CRYPTOX- 12.792  48661    2698  3.31  Fused     ANTHIN     Unident0014                13.559  21569    873   1.47  Fused     Unident0015                15.054  74757    2979  5.09  Fused     LYCOPEEN   16.096  46150    1463  3.14  Fused     Unident0017                16.647  37968    1994  2.58  Fused     Unident0018                17.747  28329    1296  1.93  Fused     Unident0019                18.362  21985    1169  1.50  Fused     B CAROTENE 18.876  183451   8834  12.49 Fused     Unident0021                19.526  21641    1410  1.47  Fused     Unident0022                20.283  6424     585   0.44  Resolved     Unident0023                23.517  45665    2343  3.11  Fused     Unident0024                24.462  20179    669   1.37  Fused     Unident0025                25.368  126787   5500  8.63  Fused     Unident0026                26.136  66975    2185  4.56  Fused     Unident0027                27.122  145853   6723  9.93  Fused     Unident0028                27.882  70164    2310  4.78  Fused     Unident0029                28.833  100228   4103  6.82  Fused     Unident0030                29.594  40246    1614  2.74  Fused     Unident0031                30.509  32888    1624  2.24  Fused     Unident0032                30.732  35873    2197  2.44  Fused     Unident0033                31.248  18710    891   1.27  Fused     Unident0034                31.833  19004    1321  1.29  Fused     Unident0035                32.239  17231    1315  1.17  Fused     Unident0036                32.814  4583     399   0.31  Fused     Unident0037                33.190  17009    1279  1.16  Fused     Unident0038                33.604  5286     525   0.36  Fused     Totals             1468907  75361 100.00     ______________________________________

Clearly, the untreated paprika has a large number of esters in the 23-25 area that are not present in the treated material. In both plant materials, whether treated or not the capsanthin retains the high peak in the 6-7 range.

EXPERIMENT 5 CHICKEN TESTING OF THE PIGMENTATION EFFECT OF MARIGOLD MEAL PROCESSED IN SITU BY TRANSESTERIFICATION

Young Warren SEX-SAL-LINK hens were divided into three identical groups. Each group exists of 7 cages which each contain 3 hens. The pullets have access to feed and water at all times.

The three groups were given the carrier feed (pigment free food) for 3 weeks as a control for the experiment.

Group A was fed ORO GLO® a commercially available free form of lutein available from Kemin Industries, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa.

Group B will be fed the new invention made according to the process of experiment one (7.5 mg of lutein activity per Kg of feed).

Group C will be fed the new invention made according to the process of experiment one (15.0 mg of lutein activity per Kg of feed).

The experiment was run for 28 days. The feeding of the material requires 3 to 5 days before the effects on the yolk color are visible. Yolk color is uniform and consistent after approximately 21 days of feeding.

Ten (10) randomly chosen eggs laid by each group at day 0, 2, 4, 8, 16 and day 28 were broken; the egg yolk color was measured and the total amount of feed intake was determined on the 28th day.

At days 0, 16 and day 28 the egg yolk of 3 randomly chosen eggs laid by each group had to be blended and weighed, followed by extraction and analysis of the egg yolk from each group.

The relationship between the egg yolk color and the mg xanthophylls/Kg of feed were calculated as well as the relationship between the amount of xanthophylls in the egg yolk and the xanthophylls fed. The results of this study are demonstrated in FIGS. 5, 6. FIG. 5 shows the Roche fan scale over days for the egg yolk color of the present invention and of the commercial product. FIG. 6 shows the mg/Kg of xanthophylls in the egg yolks over days of the three treatments. The results show that the plant material is providing more pigment and color at the 15 mg level than is the commercial product. The 15 mg level appears to be a more effective level than the 7.5 mg level. The lower level is providing less egg yolk color, even though the egg appears to have more xanthophylls from the plant material in the egg yolk than the commercial product. 

We claim:
 1. A method of producing improved plant material made from a natural plant material containing at least some non free form xanthophylls, comprising the steps of:.treating said natural plant material in situ with a solvent; adding a base capable of transesterification of non free form xanthophylls to the free form xanthophylls; neutralize the reaction wherein forming the improved plant material having more free form xanthophylls than the natural plant material.
 2. The method of claim 1 including the step of drying the improved plant materials to remove any solvent.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the plant material is flowers.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the flowers are Tagetes erecta.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent is an alcohol.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the alcohol has one to four carbons.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent is an alcohol.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the alcohol is selected form the group consisting of methanol, ethanol and isopropyl alcohol.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the base is selected from the group consisting of, Potassium hydroxide, Potassium sorbate, NaOMe, animal liver lipase, NaOEt, KOMe, KOEt, Na₂ CO₃, and K₂ CO₃.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of neutralizing includes the use of a Lewis acid.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the Lewis acid is Phosphoric acid.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein the Lewis Acid is selected from the group consisting of HCL, NH₄ CL, sulfuric acid, acetic acid and ALCL₃.
 13. An improved animal feed composition comprising:vitamin and minerals; a source of carbohydrates; and, improved plant material made by the process of claim 1 containing in situ more free form xanthophylls then the natural in situ amount of xanthophylls in the plant material that the improved plant material was formed from wherein the xanthophylls are more bioavailable to an animal fed the animal feed.
 14. A feed according to claim 13 wherein said improved plant material is flowers.
 15. A feed according to claim 14 wherein said flowers are marigolds.
 16. A feed according to claim 13 wherein said animal feed is designed for the nutritional requirements of poultry.
 17. A feed according to claim 16 wherein said poultry are chickens.
 18. A feed according to claim 16 wherein said poultry fed said animal feed evidence said bioavailability by having increased pigmentation from the consumption of said free form xanthophylls.
 19. A feed according to claim 13 wherein said xanthophylls are lutein.
 20. An improved plant material made from the process of claim 1 comprising a natural plant material containing at least some non free form xanthophylls, wherein:plant materials containing in situ less of said non free form xanthophylls, and more of free form xanthophylls wherein the free form of xanthophylls in situ in the improved plant material has increased beyond the amount in the natural plant material.
 21. Improved plant material of claim 20 wherein the plant material is flowers.
 22. Improved plant material of claim 20 wherein the plant material is petals.
 23. Improved plant material of claim 20 wherein the flowers are Tagetes erecta.
 24. Improved plant material of claim 20 wherein the xanthophyll is lutein.
 25. Improved plant material of claim 20 wherein the non free form of xanthophyll is the fatty acid esters.
 26. Improved plant material of claim 25 wherein the free form of xanthopylls is nonacylated lutein.
 27. Improved plant material of claim 20 wherein the said improved plant material contains at least 5% more free form xanthophylls then does the natural plant material in situ. 